Is anyone using/shooting a new Winchester Model 70 Safari in either 416 or 458 Win Mag ? If so
what are your opinions and experiences with them ? How is the accuracy, fit & finsh. Any complaints ? Any info appreciated.

I have a new Columbia,SC Safari Express M70 in 416 Rem and love the gun. The fit and finish is great and overall quality is very good. I feel I got my money's worth and then some. I am still playing with working up loads but it definately will shoot 1 MOA off the bench if you can tolerate the recoil. I have shot 50-60 rounds with well over 5,000 ft lbs of muzzle energy off the bench and it doesn't bother me. Some people hate them off the bench and will only shoot standing.

The stock feels good and the checkering is very sharp. It is a plain piece of wood tho. The only complaint I have is the sparse amount of bedding from the factory. I did a full bed job before the first round was fired so I have never had any issues with the stock. The gun came with a nice parkerized matte finish but I still Duracoted it for the extra protection. It has basic NECG sights and they are ok but I don't care for the brass bead.

It fed well from the factory but I still polished the rails and ramp and now they are butter smooth. This is possibly the smoothest feeding gun I own and I have used several different bullets. I have shot 300 to 400 grain bullets and it shoots them all very well. The base screws are 6/32 instead of 8/40 and I think Winchester should change that. I find the weight of the gun to be about perfect and it balances well. You cannot seat bullets very far out because of the magazine box but this isn't a target rifle so it can handle most any hunting bullet you want to use. I have not tried the 450's but I think others have with no issues.

I feel like it is one of the best buys on the market. It is a factory gun and not a custom so anyone can find issues they don't like. I think FN hit a home run with this model for a mass produced rifle that appeals to so many for such a reasonable price.

I've got 10 buffalo with my.458 already. I'm very impressed with the quality and feel. It cuts cloverleafs at 100 yards and handles like a deer rifle, which encouraged me to pick up a Supergrade in 30-06. Ironically, that one shot so poorly I had to return it.

I went to the range this morning to try some different loads and got some decent groups with the 416 Rem. Shooting 400 gr Hornady Interlocks with 81 grains of RL 15 average 2417 fps. Of the 3 groups with 3 shots each they averaged 1.24". Not bad for practice rounds.

Shooting 300 grain TSX with 88gr RL15 average speed was 2608 fps with .901" group average for 3 shots. I had 3 groups with 9 total shots and in every group 2 shots were touching. I cannot seem to get 3 touching but I'll keep trying. I was using 7x magnification so maybe if I try a higher power scope I can get a cloverleaf. I have no worries about hunting with these kind of groups so it's really kind of pointless but I love small groups. It seems to me this load is going rather slow so I'm going to try it some more and see if results vary.

On a side note my 376 Steyr surprised me by printing a 3 shot .59" group with TSX 235's. I think I will use this load deer hunting this year and see how it does.

I have the same 416 as Sid, except mine is a New Haven, 04 or 05. I agree, its the smoothest factory action Ive ever felt, and with 78.0 gr of 4064 under a 400 A-Frame, groups are under an inch. My only gripes would be the floor plate latch sticks, and the bluing is worn off the trigger guard and floorplate after two safaris. I suppose there could be worse problems...

My 2000 M70 in 416 shot 3/4" groups out of the box using 350 grain A frames. It feeds smooth, but came with a weak mag spring. A new spring solved the issue. The stock is very tight grained but plain.